Jury quick to convict Farmington child molester

FARMINGTON — A 12-person jury deliberated for 12 minutes before convicting a Farmington man for molesting a 12-year-old girl.

Phillip Gibbs, 59, was convicted Wednesday for criminal sexual contact against a child. He will be facing up to 15 years in prison at his sentencing hearing.

In the middle of a night in September 2011, a young Farmington girl awoke and Gibbs was on top of her and assaulting her. Gibbs was staying with the girl's family at the time of the crime.

The girl quickly punched Gibbs and he left the room.

She stayed up much of the night after the encounter and told her mother about the incident on the way to school the next day. Gibbs' tried to buy her silence with $5, according to the affidavit for his arrest.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Dustin O'Brien said the jury heard detailed testimony from the victim and also had two pieces of DNA evidence that linked Gibbs to the crime.

The trial started and finished Wednesday. The jury deliberated for a few minutes before convicting Gibbs of a second-degree felony before 5 p.m.

“We've had a few that are shorter but that's on the short end,” O'Brien said of the deliberation. “When it comes back that quick you know there wasn't much to debate.”

District Judge John Dean is scheduled to sentence Gibbs on March 18. He faces 3-15 years in prison.

Gibbs did not appear to have any felony convictions in New Mexico prior to Wednesday's trial.

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